Generative AI is reshaping classrooms and campuses, but with whose values, and at what cost? In this episode, Safiya Umoja Noble, author of Algorithms of Oppression and founder of the UCLA Center on Resilience and Digital Justice, joins Sarah and Taiyo to unpack why “neutral” AI isn’t neutral, why interdisciplinarity is hard but essential, and what a public‑interest technology ecosystem in higher ed could look like.

My Robot Teacher is hosted by Sarah Senk and Taiyo Inoue, sponsored by the California Education Learning Lab, and produced by editaudio. Video Editing by Starline Hodge, Audio Editing by Megan Hayward, and our Production Manager is Kathleen Speckert.

📄 Full transcripts available on Substack: https://calearninglab.org/myrobotteacher/ 

🌐 More about the show: https://www.myrobotteacher.ai

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Tags/ Keywords: Safiya Noble, Algorithms of Oppression, AI, ChatGPT, algorithmic bias, California State University, CSU, future of learning, public interest technology, human-centered AI, Sarah Senk, Taiyo Inoue, Cal Poly Maritime Academy, California Education Learning Lab, My Robot Teacher, editaudio 

In this episode, we talk with Madison Van Doren (AI Research & Strategy Manager at Appen) about the limits of AI translation, what AI safety practices like red-teaming reveal about model guardrails, and why humans in the loop remain essential. Madison explains adversarial prompting, how different large language models reflect the norms and incentives of their builders, and why common translation benchmarks reward surface accuracy while missing cultural nuance. At stake is a larger question: if AI mirrors our words but not our meanings, how can we trust it to serve as a safe partner in education and communication?

We also explore big questions for educators and students:

What skills should humans still master in an AI-saturated world?

What tasks can responsibly be offloaded to machines?

How should we redefine digital literacy for the age of generative AI?

CHAPTERS

0:00-1:30 - Chapter 1 Cold Open: Testing AI’s Limits

1:31-6:54 - Chapter 2: The Trouble with Teaching Machines Language

6:55-15:26  - Chapter 3: Adversarial Prompting: Breaking Models on Purpose

15:27-16:37 - Chapter 4 [Bridge]: Norms in, Norms Out

16:38-28:05 - Chapter 5 - Translation vs Localization: How Benchmarks Can Mislead 

28:06-35:19 - Chapter 6 - Humans in the Loop, New Literacies

35:20-39:04 - Chapter 7 - Closing Reflections: Endless Iteration, Evolving Language, and the Geopolitics of AI

My Robot Teacher is hosted by Sarah Senk and Taiyo Inoue, sponsored by the California Learning Lab, and produced by editaudio. Video Editing by Starline Hodge, Audio Editing by Megan Hayward, and our Production Manager is Kathleen Speckert.

📄 Full transcript: https://calearninglab.substack.com/p/my-robot-teacher-episode-5-transcript

🌐 More about the show: https://www.myrobotteacher.ai

📨 Email us!  We’d love to hear from you!  [email protected]

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🎧 Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-robot-teacher/id1818032413

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Tags/ Keywords: Large Language Models (LLMs), AI translation, AI localization, AI safety, Red-teaming AI, Adversarial prompting, Digital Literacy, AI in the classroom, Humans in the loop, AI misbehavior and guardrails, AI and cultural nuance, Teaching with ChatGPT, AI literacy for students and educators, Madison Van Doren, Appen, Linguistics, future of learning, human-centered AI, Sarah Senk, Taiyo Inoue, Cal Poly Maritime Academy, California Education Learning Lab, My Robot Teacher, editaudio 

How do we teach writing in the age of ChatGPT? On My Robot Teacher, hosts Taiyo Inoue and Sarah Senk talk with Carl Whithaus (Professor of Writing & Rhetoric; Director, University Writing Program, UC Davis) and Aparna Sinha (Associate Professor of Composition & Rhetoric, Cal Poly Maritime) about how AI is reshaping the composition classroom, and how educators can use LLMs to support critical thinking, metacognition, and student agency without flattening student voice.

Key topics include:

• AI Literacy: Why teaching AI is like teaching sex ed: avoidance only creates more problems.

• Process Over Product: Designing meaningful writing assignments that keep students invested.

• Reflection & Metacognition: Helping students evaluate AI feedback, spot bias, and make informed choices.

• The Future of Writing: From interdisciplinarity to multimodal literacies in a possible “post-literate” world.

00:00-2:51 Chapter 1 - Why Meaningful Assignments Beat AI Shortcuts

2:52-17:38 Chapter 2 - AI Literacy is the New Sex Ed

17:39-30:15 Chapter 3 - Foundational Skills

30:16-36:44 Chapter 4 - Why Writing Still Matters (and how to make it Mean Something)

36:45-41:40 Chapter 5 - Can We Imagine a Post-Literate non-Dystopian World?

🔔 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@myrobotteacher

🎧 Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-robot-teacher/id1818032413

📝 Read full transcripts + extras: https://calearninglab.substack.com/s/my-robot-teacher-podcast

🌐 More about the show: https://www.myrobotteacher.ai

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Tags/ Keywords: AI in education, AI writing tools, teaching with AI, AI literacy, critical thinking, equity in education, composition pedagogy, code-meshing, ChatGPT in the classroom, higher education podcast, college writing, ChatGPT, generative AI, teaching and learning, peer feedback, UC Davis University Writing Program, Cal Poly Maritime Academy, PAIRR, California Education Learning Lab, Carl Whithaus, Aparna Sinha, Taiyo Inoue, Sarah Senk, My Robot Teacher, future of learning, editaudio 

What happens when AI forces us to confront what's broken about education? In this eye-opening conversation, Linguistics professor Pranav Anand (UC Santa Cruz) and English & Ethnic Studies professor Chesa Caparas (De Anza College) join Sarah and Taiyo, and argue that the panic over student "cheating" with ChatGPT is missing the real crisis.

Spoiler alert: The problem isn't that students are using AI - it's that our entire educational system has been designed around assessments that a machine can now ace in seconds. 

From the death of the five-paragraph essay to why "AI-proof" assignments are impossible, this episode challenges everything you think you know about teaching in the age of artificial intelligence.

Discover why Humanities professors might be the secret weapon against AI manipulation, how emotional literacy became more important than technical skills, and why the future of education isn't about stopping AI - it's about fundamentally reimagining what learning actually means.

00:00 - 1:55 Chapter 1 Introduction

1:55 - 15:02 Chapter 2 AI Literacy and Humanities Inquiry

15:03 - 31:35 Chapter 3 “What the Hell is Education For?” 

31:35 - 37:54 Chapter 4 The End of Writing as We Know It

37:54 - 48:16 Chapter 5 The New Critical Thinking Debate

🔔 Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/@myrobotteacher

🎧 Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-robot-teacher/id1818032413

📝 Read full transcripts + extras: https://calearninglab.substack.com/s/my-robot-teacher-podcast

🌐 More about the show: https://www.myrobotteacher.ai

📨 Email us!  We’d love to hear from you!  [email protected]

Follow us on: 

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Tags/ Keywords: AI literacy, Humanities, Higher Education, ChatGPT technology, podcast, generative AI, teaching, learning, assessment, critical thinking, Pranav Anand, Chesa Caparas, Taiyo Inoue, Sarah Senk, My Robot Teacher, future of writing, future of learning, editaudio

What does AI mean for how we teach and learn? In this episode of My Robot Teacher, we explore how ChatGPT is reshaping higher education.

In this episode of My Robot Teacher, co-hosts Taiyo Inoue and Sarah Senk share real stories and critical reflections on using ChatGPT and other large language models in higher education.

What becomes newly possible - and newly questionable - when thinking itself is distributed across humans and machines? We explore how AI is transforming writing instruction, interdisciplinary collaboration, coding, policy work, and even the value of drudgery.

Whether you’re skeptical, curious, or knee-deep in prompt engineering, this episode offers insight into how educators are adapting to the age of AI - and why the future of higher education depends on how we choose to engage with it..

🧠 Featuring:

• Practical classroom tips for integrating AI

• Reflections on academic integrity in the ChatGPT era

• Cross-disciplinary collaboration using LLMs

• Time-saving hacks for faculty service work

• Deep questions about writing, learning, and human thought

Transcript available:https://calearninglab.substack.com/s/my-robot-teacher-podcast

More info: https://calearninglab.org/myrobotteacher/

My Robot Teacher is hosted by Sarah Senk and Taiyo Inoue and produced by editaudio. Video Editing by Starline Hodge, Audio Editing by Megan Hayward, and our Production Manager is Kathleen Speckert. My Robot Teacher is funded by the California Education Learning Lab, which supports faculty-led projects that leverage technology tools and the science of human learning to foster student success in online and hybrid learning environments.

Tags: ChatGPT, AI in education, higher education, teaching with AI, AI tools for educators, large language models, prompt engineering, AI writing, faculty development, interdisciplinary collaboration, educational technology, edtech, digital pedagogy, college teaching, academic integrity, critical thinking, writing instruction, general education, My Robot Teacher

What happens when ChatGPT crashes into the classroom?

In this premiere episode of My Robot Teacher, Cal State University (CSU) professors Taiyo Inoue and Sarah Senk explore how faculty across public universities are reacting to the rise of generative AI in education. From panic to pedagogical adaptation, we dig into what resistance to AI really looks like - and why it often gives way to something stranger: habituation.

We talk about how large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT are reshaping teaching, trust, and the purpose of assignments themselves. This isn’t just about prompts. It’s about power, policy, and the future of public higher ed.

In this episode:

• We take Yale’s Ben Glaser on a ride in a Waymo driverless car
• Talk about UX, AI adaptation, and design thinking with Hana Zeydens (Chan Zuckerberg Initiative)
• Hear reflections from Cal Maritime faculty and leadership on how AI is already impacting them

Keywords: AI in education, ChatGPT in the classroom, generative AI and higher ed, resistance to AI, teaching with ChatGPT, AI panic, large language models, autonomous vehicles, Waymo, CSU professors, public universities and AI, AI in public education, education after the prompt, pedagogy and AI, higher education and AI disruption, future of learning

Transcript available:https://calearninglab.substack.com/s/my-robot-teacher-podcast

More info:https://calearninglab.org/myrobotteacher/

My Robot Teacher is hosted by Sarah Senk and Taiyo Inoue and produced by editaudio. Video Editing by Starline Hodge, Audio Editing by Megan Hayward, and our Production Manager is Kathleen Speckert.

Faculty insiders Sarah Senk and Taiyo Inoue unpack how generative AI is reshaping higher ed policy, pedagogy, and ethics - without the jargon. Follow for sharp insight and dry wit.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, AI, ChatGPT, tech, Waymo, science and technology, AI and Humanity, Education, HigherEd, Future Of Learning, Sarah Senk, Taiyo Inoue, editaudio, MLOps, Machine Learning, Generative AI, Artificial Superintelligence, AI Takeover, AI2027, My Robot Teacher Podcast